Earlier on Tuesday, Ottawa launched a 30-day consultation, from September 10, 2024, to October 10, 2024, on potential additional surtaxes on a range of Chinese products.
The government argued that new tariffs could further curb alleged unfair competition from Chinese producers and help protect Canada's critical manufacturing sectors. Ottawa notably accuses China of engaging in practices enabled by its purported intentional and state-directed policy of oversupply.
"Today, Canada launched consultations on potential surtaxes on China's batteries and battery parts, semiconductors, solar products and critical minerals, continuing and expanding its unilateralism and protectionism measures, which will further severely damage the multilateral trading system and disrupt the global industrial and supply chains in relevant sectors. China strongly opposes such measures and will continue to take resolute measures to defend its legitimate rights," the spokesperson said.
In late-August, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada was imposing a 100% surtax on Chinese-made electrical vehicles and a 25% surtax on steel and aluminum imports from China to curb what it called "unfair competition" from Chinese producers.
In the wake of those surtaxes, China’s Embassy in Ottawa told Sputnik that Beijing condemned the measures and rejected the Canadian tariffs. The embassy empathized that China would safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the country’s enterprises.
On Friday, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced that it had lodged a consultation request at the World Trade Organization over Canada’s decision to impose tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.